Clasp.



W. J. SHORTEN.

CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6, 1912.

1,073,714, Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

Witnesses WWW [mnnnn wa /w Inventor,

r I Attorneys.

FFICE.

WILLIAM JOHN SHOETEN, OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

CLASP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 23. 1913.

Application filed September 6. 1912. Serial No. 719,019.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, lamas! J. Snon'rnx, acitizen of the United States, residing at Nashville, in the county ofDavidson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Clasp,of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improve ments in clasps, the primaryobject ot the invention being the provision of a novel form of claspadapted to be used in connection with horses collars, hame straps,belts, or in fact with any article that it is desired to quickly andpermanently secure together, yet in such a manner as to permit of theready and easy release thereof, the present clasp being composed of twomembers one member of which is provided with spaced tongues, the othermember being provided with a receptacle for receiving one of the tonguesof the first member. when the two members are interlocked, to retain thesame against lateral moven'ient.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the. drawingsl igure l is a perspective View of the clasp separatedand shown as attached to a hame. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional viewthrough the members of the clasp detached. Fig. 3 is a similar view withthe members interlocked. Figs. 4t and 5 are respective top and bottomplan views of the female member. Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively top andbottom plan views of the male member of the clasp. Fig. 8 is a plan viewof the male member having slots instead of teeth.

Referring to the drawings, the numerals 1 and 1 designate the two homemembers, each one of which is provided with the respective straps 2 and2 whereby the respective female member 3 and male members of the claspare properly connected, the straps 2 and 2 being threaded through thebails or open lugs 5 and 6 respectively, carried by their respectivemembers 8 and t. The member 3 is constructed from a single piece ofmetal and is bent upon itself to Form the lower member 7 which is provded with the guiding tongue 8 and the upper member t) which is providedwith the slightly tapered and curved locking terminal 10. said terminal10 being provided with the linger engaging portions 10 which form anenlarged head and project beyond the outer line ot the member, the undersurface. ol the tongue 10 being provided with the single tooth ll whichforms a spring lock to! the member. The tongue 8 is ltnown as theguiding tongue, while the tongue 9 is the locking tongue of this member. he tension of the locking tongue t) is toward the tongue 8 so thatthe tooth 11 will always have a tension toward the tongue 8, the purposeo'l. which will presently appear.

The male member of the clasp, is made in the form of a curved tongue andis provided with the entering point 12 and upon the upper suri'ace witha plurality of teeth [3 which are disposed to comet with the singletooth 11. ot' the locking tongue t) of the female member when themembers are in the position as shown in Fig. 3 to thus lock the membersin assembled position, the guiding tongue 8 when in such position beingseated within the pocket 14 carried by the member t. upon the oppositeside to the teeth 13. liy this means the tongue 8 retains the membersagainst lateral movement while the tension upon the locking tongue 9pulls the tooth 11 into engagement with either one of the teeth 13. Byproviding theentering point 12 upon the male member et, the members arereadily locked and moved from the position as shown in l 2 to that shownin Fig. 3. By providing the finger gripping portions 10 upon the member9, the said port-ions being so disposed as to project beyond oppositesides of the member -11: when assembled. the resilient locking tongue 9may be readily disengaged so that the parts may be moved from theposition shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in l ig. 2.

As shown in Fig. 8, the member 4 is provided with transverse slots oropenings 11% which correspond to the teeth 13 of the member 4 and arefor co-action with the tooth 11 of the female member.

From the foregoing description. taken in connection with the drawings itis evident that with a clasp constructed according to and embodying thepresent invention, that a very practical device is provided for use inconnection with the free ends of belts, the connecting straps of hame,and in fact any medium that it is desired to quickly connect anddisconnect. By means of the legs 5 and 6, the members may be stitched orotherwise secured to a horse collar or to the top of a shoe to form afastening device.

VVh-at is claimed is:

A clasp, composed of tWo members for interlocking engagement, one memberbeing a relatively rigid curved plate having a plurality of transverselydispose-d teeth upon one face and a projecting portion upon the oppositeface extending from one end to a point near the center of the plate,said projecting portion being provided With a relatively narrow slotdisposed parallel to the adjacentface of the plate; and

the other member having two resilient tongues disposed in spacedrelation with a normal tension toward each other, one tongue beingnarrower at its free end than the other tongue for insertion Within theslot of tl e projecting portion of the first \VILLIAM JOHN SHORTEN. I

Witnesses HUGH NIXON, J. E. ALLEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. G.

